Thornton last played in the NHL in the 2021-22 season in which he played 34 games for the Florida Panthers, scoring 10 points. The Sharks legend played over 1700 games in his career with just over 1100 of them with the Sharks. In his tame in the bay area he scored 251 goals and 804 assists for 1055 points. Not too bad eh?
Thornton joined the sharks in the 05-06 season when the team acquired him from Boston in the biggest trade in franchise history. That is a fact that hold up even now, nearly 20 years later. There has been much speculation about Thornton among Sharks fans as he has frequently been seen hanging out with Sharks brass at games. Perhaps this announcement is a precursor to the team officially announcing he's been hired for some kind of front office role. Just about the only thing that ever eluded Jumbo in his career was a Stanley Cup ring so perhaps now he will get a chance to earn on in a non-player role.
